Ukraine wants to seek Nato membership: PM
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk yesterday said that the government is seeking to join Nato and is submitting a relevant bill to parliament to end the country's official 'non-bloc' policy.
"The government is entering a bill to Verkhovna Rada (parliament) about the cancellation of Ukraine's non-bloc status and resumption of Ukraine's course for Nato membership.
The bill, if passed, would forbid Ukraine from taking a decision on membership in "any other economic, political, or other unions" that would prevent the country from eventually joining the European Union, he said.
"The adoption of this law would mean that Ukraine would be forbidden from membership in the Customs Union, as well as the Eurasian Union, or any other unions that are in essence nothing other than Russia's Soviet Union."
Yatsenyuk earlier this week asked Nato for "practical help" as Kiev's army is fighting an insurgency in east Ukraine and accusing Russia of sending regular army contingents that have seized key towns.
Russia vehemently opposes closer ties between Ukraine and Nato.
And concerns that Kiev could be drawn closer into the Western security alliance -- and towards Europe -- are seen as a key motivation behind Russia's actions in recent months.
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